Silver Anomaly
by CrystalRose03
Summary: "Of course he'll be in Gryffindor, we all are. Every single one of us are going to be in Gryffindor, and even if not, there's no way that any Weasley or Potter will ever get into Slytherin". Oh, Albus will get into Gryffindor just fine. But what about Rose? Rose Weasley, the anomaly. Only Weasley in history to get into Slytherin, and best friends with a Malfoy. Next gen. Scorose.
1. Chapter 1

Rose shut her eyes tight and exhaled. Albus and James were bickering in the corner of her eyesight. James was once again taunting his younger brother about him getting into Slytherin.

"No I won't!", Albus cried fearfully at James. His face was slightly pink and his eyes were filled with worry and fear. What enjoyment James got out of taunting his brother she would never understand. There was a glimmer in his eyes and a smug smile on his face. Rose blocked them out and faced her mother.

"Remember to keep your grades up", Hermione told her daughter. Rose smiled and nodded.

"Well look who it is", her father muttered. Both girls turned to where he was looking. Rose saw a blonde haired man holding the shoulders of and looking down at a boy who was obviously his son. The boy shared the same platinum blonde hair as his father's, although it was much more casual than his fathers, hanging down into his eyes. Their eyes were the same, except where the man's were a steely grey, the boy's were a stormy grey. In fact, his features were identical to that of his father's, albeit much softer.

"Malfoy. Should have known the ferret had an offspring to carry on his legacy", Ron sneered. So that was the infamous Draco Malfoy, she had heard many stories about him, his name always said bitterly by her father. Ron's eyes snapped to his daughter's.

"You bloody well make sure you beat that Malfoy in every single subject, even bleeding quidditch, you hear?", her mother narrowed her eyes at him for a fraction of a section, he ignored her in preference of glaring at the Malfoy's. Rose said nothing. A loud whistle sounded through platform 9¾.

"Good bye dear! Have fun!", her mother called after her as her father indicated for her to hurry. She spotted Albus just finishing talking to his father.

"Come on, Al! Bye Uncle Harry!", she called, tugging on Albus' arm. They hopped on just as the train began moving, wasting no time in waving goodbye to their families. Once the platform was out of sight, they followed their cousins and siblings to a compartment.

"I'm not going to be in Slytherin!", her cousin's voice rang out, ignored by most of their cousins. Rose glanced to where Albus and James were bickering again.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, will you stop! Of course he'll be in Gryffindor, we all are. Every single one of us are going to be in Gryffindor, and even if not, there's no way that any Weasley or Potter will ever get into _Slytherin_ ", Roxanne scolded exasperatedly. An eruption of agreement and noise broke out. Rose just stared blankly out of the window, uncomfortable. With a sigh, she stood up and marched over to the door.

"Where are you going, Rosie?", Vic called.

"Just stretching my legs. I'll be back in a minute", she replied, sliding the door shut behind her. Once she was around the corner she slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She took some deep breaths and ran her fingers through her hair. Sometimes her family were just plain suffocating. After a moment, she got up and wandered along the hallway. By the time she got to the end, her mind was made up and she knocked on a random door. She would come up with some excuse to tell her cousins later. Hesitantly, she slid open the door and glanced inside.

There was only one person, reading beside the window. She recognized him as the boy her father had pointed out earlier. She ignored her father's words and nervously opened her mouth.

"Hello?", the boy's head snapped up in alarm and he dropped his book. He stared at her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just wondering if I could maybe sit down?", Rose knew her voice sounded nervous. He analyzed her suspiciously for a moment, before slowly nodding his head. She smiled and sat down opposite him.

"Rose Weasly", she said, holding her hand out in greeting. He looked alarmed again and glanced from her face to her hand. Hesitantly, he reached out and shook it.

"Scorpius. Malfoy", he added, watching her face closely for a reaction. She gave none except a brilliant smile.

"Nice to meet you, Scorpius". He seemed to let out a relieved breath, and gave her a small smile in return.

"You too, Rose".

They spent the journey talking and getting to know each other. They discussed books, both having a love of reading, robes, wands, anything and everything, really. Rose loved how easy the conversation was, it was probably due to her excitement, but she found talking with Scorpius easier than when she was even talking to Al, the words just flowed. The train turned a corner and they could see Hogwarts in the distance. There was a moment of silence as both children admired their new school in awe.

"So which house are you expecting to get into?", she asked. He glanced down.

"Slytherin, I suppose. All Malfoy's are in Slytherin", she looked at him closely, he kept his eyes focused on the floor.

"And which house do you _want_ to get into?", his eyes flicked up and caught hers. She searched them for an answer. Then the compartment door was flung open, and James, Fred, Vic and Albus stood there.

"Rosie! Thank Merlin! We didn't know where you had got to!", James exclaimed, looking at her with relief.

"What are you doing here anywa-", his gaze settled on Scorpious and his eyes hardened.

"Malfoy. Rose, you shouldn't be talking to the son of a Death Eater", she was startled at his change in attitude. But then she got angry. Angry that James thought she couldn't look after herself, that she didn't know what she was doing, and angry about the flash of hurt and fear that went through Scorpious' eyes.

"I can talk to whoever I want to, James", she snapped. He switched his gaze from Scorpius to Rose, surprised.

"And even _if_ his father was a Death Eater, that gives you no right to gudge him!", Scorpius looked at her equally as surprised as James.

"He was raised by his dad, Rosie. You might like to see the best in people, but he's evil. All Malfoy's are. All _Slytherin's_ are", Vic spat. Albus' eyes flashed in alarm. Rose scowled.

"Get out. You have your own compartment, and I don't want to talk to you, so get out", they stared at her for a second, and then James stormed off, followed by Fred and Vic. Albus stood frozen, glancing from one of his relatives to the other three. With a sigh, he hung his head and followed them, sliding the door closed behind him. Rose just stared at the now closed door.

"Thanks", Scorpius muttered from beside her. She turned to him and smiled.

"We'll be over it in an hour. And that's what friends are for", his eyes lit up at the word friends.

"Yeah", he nodded.

It wasn't long before the train pulled into the station. Rose and Scorpius got off still talking.

"Hello Rose! It's good ta see yeh! Albus jus' wen o'er there", Hagrid nodded in the direction of the lake.

"Hey Hagrid! It's good to be here, finally. Thanks!", she called, making her way towards the lake. Scorpius looked at her unnervingly.

"What?", she asked, maybe more hostile than intended.

"Nothing, sorry. It's just... You know him? That, uh, man. My father told me some stories about him...", he trailed off. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Family friend", she replied, leading him towards an empty boat. They sat down on opposite sides. Scorpius trailed his fingers across the surface of the dark water, causing the tiniest of ripples. Rose smiled at him, gliding her hand along the top of the icy lake.

"Um, hi". Rose glanced at her cousin, Albus, who was fidgeting.

"Hey", she replied cooly. Scorpius glanced between the two nervously.

"Can I sit with you guys?", Rose nodded, watching as he climbed in and sat as far away from Scorpius as possible, avoiding looking in his direction. Rose sighed to herself and gave Scorpius a small smile. The boats started moving suddenly, making her jump. She watched as Scorpius slid his hand into the water, causing it to swirl and ripple.

"How can you do that? It's freezing!", she asked quietly. He shrugged softly.

"It's calming. After a moment you don't feel the cold", she glanced at him, her look letting him know she thought he was crazy. After a second, she hesitantly tapped the surface, flicking her hand immediately. She took a deep breath and lowered her fingers into it, wincing at the temperature. Scorpius grinned at her, and she poked her tongue out at him. It wasn't long before they hit the dock.

Rose stayed side by side with Scorpius the whole time, through various teachers explaining things, and pointing things out. Then they reached two large, wooden doors.

"This is the Great Hall. In here, you will be sorted into one of the four houses; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Slytherin", Proffesor Longbottom went on to explain about the four houses, but Rose let her mind wander, not particularly caring. She could research it later if she wanted to. The doors opened and they filed inside, gasping and 'wow'ing at the decorations. Rose met James' eye, he turned his head away from her, not acknowledging her presence.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?", Scorpius asked, noticing the interaction.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry. It won't be long before they're all crowding around me, showing me the dorms, the best couches, telling me random 'tips' about the Common Room and all that", she said with a playful roll of her eyes.

"So you're expecting to get into Gryffindor, then?", he asked offhandedly. She suddenly realized she hadn't thought about it. Hadn't considered anything else.

"I've never thought about it, I always assumed I would, anyway. Like Roxy said earlier, we all get into Gryffindor. All the Weasley's and the Potter's, that's just how it works". Scorpius gave her a sideways glance, as if searching for something.

"Abbott, Michael", they all watched as the first First Year walked up and sat on the stool. Proffesor McGonagall placed an old, worn hat over his head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!", it announced after a fraction of a second. There were loud cheers as the beaming boy walked over to his new table. Rose listened interested as more names were called out. ...Collins, Georgina...Evans, Drew...Gallagher, Eva...

"Malfoy, Scorpius", Rose gave her new friend a thumbs up as he sat down on the stool. He sent her a nervous look. The hat seemed to be taking longer than for most of the others.

"SLYTHERIN!", it eventually called out. Rose caught his eye and smiled reassuringly. ...Montgomery, Terrance...Nelson, Teresa...

"Potter, Albus". The entire hall went silent as Albus made his way to the stool, looking like he might get sick, eyes filled with worry. His eyes met Rose's for a brief moment and he seemed to relax as the hat slid over his eyes. Rose held her breath, as did most of the hall.

"... GRYFFINDOR!", a huge applause rippled across the room, started by the wildly clapping Potter and Weasley clan, all too eager to welcome their relative. Rose cheered and clapped louder than most, glad that her cousin's worrying was over. ...Redmond, Shauna...Simmons, Zachary...Vermont, Juliet...

"Weasley, Rose", she wasn't expecting to get as big of a reaction as Albus had, which she didn't get nor want, but she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach as the hat fell over her eyes and everything went dark.

" _Ah, another Weasley, so many of them these days. And off to join your family you go. No, but wait, something about you is different. Much smarter than usual, you've inherited you're mother's brains all right, and there is a sense of loyalty, perhaps Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? No. There is that courage, although not as brazen and hot-headed as many of your relatives... And yes, certainly cunning, very cunning... But where to put you..._ "

Rose listened to the voice, deciding to just listen. Where _did_ she want to go? She decided to let the hat decide.

" _Very well, then. I expect great thing from you, Rose Weasley. Good luck_ "

"...SLYTHERIN!".

That did warrant a larger reaction than Al's alright. The entire room froze, including McGonagall and Rose herself. _Slytherin... Slytherin... Slytherin._ The words seemed to echo around the room, bouncing off of all of the walls. She stood shakily. Looking over to her cousins, she was met with frozen eyes and disbelieving faces. Looking around the room, no one seemed to know how to react. Then she looked over at the Slytherin table, her table. Scorpius was staring at her, a grin on his face, and it made her smile. He started clapping, and one by one the rest of the table joined in.

She hurried down the steps and practically ran to sit on the bench beside Scorpius. Eyes followed her, and she let her long, auburn hair fall in front of her, hiding her face.

"Well hey there, Weasley", Scorpius said teasingly.

"I guess you just had to stand out from the crowd, huh?"

"Gryffindor is just too mainstream", she agreed. They looked at each other and laughed again. A part of her loved the astonished and gobsmacked looks on her cousin faces, a pretty big part to be honest. She looked down the length of the silver and green decorated table, and smiled.

The duration of the meal was spent by Rose ignoring all the stares and strange looks she was receiving. She figured it was for two reasons, 1) She was a Weasley, who had gotten into _Slytherin_ , and 2) She was a Weasley, talking to a Malfoy. Strangely enough, neither of these two facts bothered her. She wasn't her parents. And neither was Scorpius.

"So who'd you kill to get yourself landed in here, Weasley?", she turned her attention to a boy leaning against the table next to her, looking at her with interest. She raised an eyebrow in answer.

"Or maybe you're going through a rebellious faze? Angry at your parents? You are talking to the son of a Death Eater, who was coincidentally your parents 'arch-nemisis', after all", the boy had dark hair curled up around his ears, deep brown eyes, and a smirk on face. Rose hadn't a clue who he was.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?", she replied sugar-sweetly, a warning beneath her tone, ignoring his questions. His smirk widened.

"No. Not yet", and with that he walked away. Rose sighed and put down her fork, having had enough food for one night. She turned back to Scorpius, who was glaring in the direction of the boy. She didn't comment.

"Prefects, please lead the First Years to their dorms", McGonagall's voice came from seemingly everywhere as the food vanished. Rose stood up and followed behind Scorpius as they were lead by a tall, gangly boy out of the hall, a shiny Prefect badge pinned proudly to his cloak. She did her best to remember the way down to the dungeons, cursing the moving staircases. They made their way down, below ground level, and stopped in front of a scroll-like painting of an old poet.

"Cornipicious", the boy said clearly. The poet glanced at him, uninterested. The scroll rolled up to reveal a deep green bricked passage. Rose stared at the scroll in awe, remembering her cousins telling her about the fat lady portrait swinging open. Somehow, the fact that she was the only member of her family who knew the Slytherin common room entrance was different, and the password, made her smile.

She knew the common room was under the lake, and honestly expected a dark, damp, dimly lit room. She was pleasantly surprised when she entered a large, warm, green and silver decorated room, with crackling fires in the fireplaces and comfy looking couches. She immediately felt at home. The boy was talking, but she wasn't paying attention. She caught Scorpius' eye and grinned. Rose could already imagine herself sitting in front of one of the fires, a book in hand.

"The girls' dorms are on the first landing, to the left, the boy's to the right. You'll find your names on a sheet on the front of the door, same with your beds", she heard and joined the crowd of girls moving up the stairs. On the third door she checked, she saw her name printed in silver. Pushing open the door, she found four girls already sitting on their beds. She saw her name and cases along with her now empty bird cage placed at the foot of the only bed left. Sitting down and running her hand across the silky green duvet cover of her four-poster bed, she looked at each of the four other girls in the room.

Two of the girls were talking quietly to each other, one had brown hair in a pixi cut and the other had dark plaited hair, she had a small, delicate frame. The girl farthest away from Rose had blonde hair that she was taking down from a bun and thin lips, her features were very sharp and she was eyeing Rose suspiciously. The last girl was lying down and reading, her hair sprawled around her on the pillow, large glasses perched on her nose. She was tapping her foot in some kind of song.

"Hey", Rose called out hesitantly. The two girls stopped talking and focused on her, the girl reading turned her head and the blonde girl raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, I'm Rose. It's nice to... Meet you all", the room was silent and she started to regret speaking.

"Kristen, you can call me Kris", introduced the reading girl suddenly. The girls who had been talking looked at each other.

"I'm Becca, this is Emilie", replied the one with the pixi cut, nodding her head at the other girl who waved. They all turned to the blonde, who was now brushing her hair.

"Sonja", she said after a moment. Rose smiled at her.

"Goodnight, then", Emilie said, climbing into bed. She gave Rose a small smile and shut the curtains around her bed.

"Night", Becca echoed, shutting her own curtains. Kristen just nodded and the curtains shut. Sonja slid her curtains closed without a word. Rose just sat, staring into space. She was in Slytherin. Her, Rose Weasley, was in Slytherin. What the hell had happened. She suddenly felt the crash of realization hit her, and it hit her hard.

She wasn't in Gryffindor. She was in strange, unknown territory. No cousins to help her out. No tips, no knowledge. She was an anomaly. Someone who strayed away from her family. What would they think? Oh crap, what would her father say? Her mom? Her aunts and uncles? Every single member of her family and most of anyone she knew were in Gryffindor. Rose buried her face in her hands, laid down, and waved her wand, shutting her curtains. Now there was no noise, no distraction. Now all she had was quiet and space to think.

No. She decided. She could do this. She wasn't her parents. Daughter of the Gryffindor Princess, niece to the Chosen One, product of two thirds of the Golden Trio. She was Rose Weasley, a Slytherin. With a determined mind, she shut her eyes and felt the day's events take their toll on her, and she slipped into sleep.

 **So that's chapter one. What to you think? Please review. I want to know your thoughts.** _ **-Crys**_


	2. Chapter 2

Rose felt a sharp poke in her side. She grumbled and swatted weakly at it. Another poke.

"Get up, Rose. You know you want to be awake", she grumbled again and creaked open one eye. Becca was staring down at her, a finger hovering above her shoulder. Hogwarts. School. Lessons. Suddenly she sat bolt upright, making Becca jump.

"What time is it?! Am I late?!", Becca smirked at her.

"Relax, hun. No lessons today, nothing to be late for. I just assumed you'd want to be up in time for breakfast, I've woken everyone", Rose rubbed her eyes and looked around. Glancing at her clock she read that it was half eight.

"Thanks, Becca. Sorry, I dont usually sleep in", she muttered, standing up and stretching. Becca shrugged and wandered over to where Emilie was clutching a pillow to her face.

After washing her face, brushing her hair and teeth, and changing into her clothes, Rose walked out of her dorm. She walked down the steps and looked around the common room. She spotted Scorpius sitting reading on one of the chairs. She walked over and looked over his shoulder.

"I've read that. It's pretty good", she said suddenly, causing him to flinch and whip around to face her. He let out a breath upon seeing who it was that had interrupted his reading.

"Hey", he greeted.

"Morning. Have you already eaten? I'm going down now", he shook his head and folded the corner of his page, slipping the book into his cloak.

"Let's go".

"See? I told you it was this way", Rose announced triumphantly as the Great Hall entrance came into view. Scorpius rolled his eyes jokingly. The pair had been -very mildly- arguing about the way to the Great Hall for the last ten minutes, having gotten lost multiple times.

"That was a lucky guess. You went the wrong way twice before this", he pointed out.

"Third time lucky. And you lead us the wrong way four times!", she retorted as they sat down. Rose grabbed a slice of toast and buttered it as Scorpius muttered something about moving staircases.

"So, you up for a little exploring today? I will kick something -possibly you- if we're late to any of our lessons tomorrow because we got lost. My dad did that, and it's not a good first impression to give", she was half joking about the first part, Scorpius grinned at her.

"Merlin, Weasley, first a Slytherin, and then late for classes. What will the proffesors think?", he teased. She lightly punched him on the arm as she took a bite of her toast, his grin remaining intact.

"Rose".

She froze mid chew. She felt a prick down her spine. Slowly, she turned around while swallowing.

"H-hey Dom", she muttered, a nervous smile on her face. Dominique, Victoire, Roxanne, Fred and James stood there, in a group. Fred was looking at her like he didn't know her, Victoire and Roxanne were looking around as if waiting for someone to jump out at them, Dominique was eyeing her coldly, and James was glaring at her as if she betrayed them all.

"It's a joke, right? It's a mistake, the Sorting Hat's playing a joke. You'll be resorted and you'll be in Gryffindor", Victoire asked as if reassuring herself.

"I-I don't know, Vic. Uh, I think it's for real", she finished quietly, not meeting her cousins' eyes.

"You're a Weasley, Rosie. You belong in Gryffindor, with us. Cop on and just ask McGonagall to be resorted. Every single Weasley _ever_ has been in Gryffindor, and you're no different. You don't belong in _Slytherin_ ", Roxanne snapped. The chatter around the table started to die down as they watched the confrontation.

"I-"

"Slytherin is for evil people, like the Malfoys", James snarled, sneering at Scorpius, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Just hurry up and grow up, Rose. Be serious. Aunt Hermione can pull some strings, just be bloody normal! And what the hell are you doing talking to Malfoy?", He continued, raising his voice. Rose felt her eyes sting, willing herself not to cry.

"How did you even manage to be such a screw-up, Rose?", Dominique hissed.

"I dont- I don't, k-know", Rose replied shakily. She was trying so hard to speak over the lump in her throat.

"Oh for Merlin's sake! Come on, we'll go to McGonagall right now, then!", Dom said exasperatedly, grabbing Rose's arm roughly and pulling her off of the bench. Rose yelped in pain, which was ignored by her cousins. She felt the first tear fall.

"Let go of her! Can't you see you're hurting her?", Scorpius interjected, shoving Dom's hand off of Rose's arm. Rose stared at him, grateful. By this point everyone in the hall was looking at them. James looked furious.

"Don't you dare touch my cousin, Malfoy", he spat.

"You should be saying that to your other cousin!", Scorpius retorted, indicating the quickly turning red patch of skin Rose was rubbing on her arm.

"Stay out of shit you don't understand!", Roxanne hissed roughly.

"I understand that you're hurting your cousin!" Rose looked helplessly between the people arguing in front of her.

"Don't act like you know her, Malfoy!"

"Well I seem to understand her more than you do right now!" Suddenly James had his wand out and pointed straight at Scorpius. Not a single student made a sound.

"James! Put that down!" Rose cried, trying to take it from him, finally finding her voice.

"You shouldn't be defending him, Rose! He's a Slytherin!" James yelled.

"Well so am I!" Rose retorted, effectively shutting him up. She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm a Slytherin, James! Okay? Just accept it! I'm not a Gryffindor, I'm a Slytherin, like Scorpius! So unless you're saying _I'm_ evil, just stop!" James stared at her in disbelief.

"There _was_ no mistake. I'm a Slytherin. It's where the Sorting Hat put me, and it's where I belong. So please, just stop," she stared into his eyes pleadingly, looking at each of her cousins in turn before returning her focus to James. He snatched his wand back, glared at Scorpius, and stormed away, not looking back once. The entire room was silent. One by one, her cousins, her family, turned their backs on her and followed James out.

Rose's legs gave way and she fell back down on the bench. She knew everyone was staring at her. She focused on Scorpius, who was looking at her guiltily and concerned.

"I'm not hungry anymore," she whispered hoarsely. Then she stood up and walked out the back door, hair hiding her face.

"Hey." Rose said without turning around.

"Hey." Scorpius replied, closing the door behind him. He walked over and sat down beside her, backs against the wall of the Astronomy Tower, looking out over the grounds.

"You okay?" he asked after a minute of silence,

"Yeah." she replied after a heart beat. He nodded and continued looking at the mountains in the distance. Neither said anything.

Suddenly she hugged him, making him tense up with surprise. He panicked for a second, then hesitantly put his arms around her.

"Thanks," she said, muffled against his shoulder.

"For standing up for me." she added, pulling back and looking at him. He smiled.

"That's what friends are for, isn't it?'. She smiled back at him,

"Yeah."

They sat in a comfortable silence for another few minutes.

"Weren't you saying something about exploring earlier?". She laughed, the sound making him smile.

"Let's go then."

"At the risk of sounding like a dork, I can't wait to be taking lessons here,"Rose voiced out loud, admiring the architecture of the classroom they were currently looking around.

"This is where we have History of Magic, with Proffesor Bins", Scorpius supplied. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I memorized the schedule", he offered, grinning.

"Huh. So did I", she murmered, thoroughly enjoying having someone on the same academic level as herself her age.

"So, as much as I detest spoilers, I'm hoping Johanna has some character development towards the end?". She didn't even need to look at the book he was taking out of his cloak to know what he was talking about.

"Are you sure you want to discus this?", she asked, knowing how much she _hated_ a book she was reading being spoiled.

"I'm pretty close to the end already, but she's just such a... _blank_ character. I mean, it builds her up as if she'll turn out to be this important protagonist, yet I haven't seen anything valuable in her character yet."

"100% certain? Because you know I can't take it back once I've said it," he nodded in response, interested piqued.

"Your choice. Okay, I found this particularly frustrating, because there's not! She's just the 'damsel in distress' character. At the end, she receives this title, as if she was a strong, inspiring female character throughout the storyline, but no. Johanna's just left as this undeveloped, over rated blank slate. It's so frustrating, and it did affect my over all rating of the book, but seeing as I found everything else incredibly well plotted, my opinion of it is still very high", she took in a large breath and exhaled. Scorpius was watching her with amusement.

"What?" she demanded self a consciously.

"You know, I have never known anyone who has said so much on the topic of any form of literature in one breath. Consider me impressed", he mimicked taking off a hat and tipping it to her.

"Why thank you, Mr Malfoy. I am deeply grateful of your appreciation", she mock fanned herself. They met eyes and burst out laughing.

"So what do you do in your spare time apart from read?", she asked. He thought about it.

"Well, my mother tried to teach me the piano for a few years, which I play around with from time to time, although I'm absolutely terrible. I suppose I just spend quite a large portion of my time reading... Oh, my parents are always teaching me further etiquette lessons. Positions in society, marriages, blood purity, status, appropriate meals for events, courses, hours, which guests to invite to what, appropriate dress attire... It really does get tiresome". Rose could feel the exasperation emitting from him as he spoke.

"Wow. Sounds fun. I'm glad my family's never been concerned with all that. My mother's an interested muggle-born, while my father's a clueless, uncultured pure-blood. It doesn't make a difference to me, but Mum gets so annoyed at him. She wants to learn, and he doesn't know. It's actually quite amusing sometimes". He laughed, she quirked an eyebrow.

"Sorry, just imagining the Great Ron and Hermione Weasley, famous War Heroes, arguing over a small dinner table about 'Ronald' not listening to his mother", he laughed again, and a corner of her mouth twitched up.

"See, I grew up with that. You, however, think of what it's like for me trying to imagine the Draco Malfoy that my parents and aunts and uncles have told me all these stories about, with a wife and son? _The_ Draco Malfoy, ruffling his son's hair, giving his wife a goodbye kiss on the cheek, holding a tiny baby? It just doesn't compute", she started laughing, an image of the man she had seen at Platform 9¾, awkwardly holding his newborn son for the first time, hair messy from running his fingers through it. She just kept laughing, seeing his expression in her mind.

"Whoa". Was all Rose said as the Quidditch pitch came into view. It was more spectacular than she had expected; with 6 proudly standing hoops, and house decorated towers. Even the viewing areas were extravagant.

"I mean, my father told me that this pitch was the best he'd ever played on, not that I was to tell anyone that-" he shot Rose a grin, "-but this is... Incredible".

Rose bit her lip, glancing around them.

"Do you... What do you think the chance is we'll get caught if we borrowed some brooms for a minute or two?", she asked quietly. Scorpius looked at her stunned.

"B-but, we're first years! We're not allowed-", he stopped when he saw Rose's raised eyebrow. With a sigh, he glanced up the path, and then ran down to the shed.

"No fair!", he heard behind him, and he had to fight down a grin. When he reached the shed, relieved it was unlocked, he didn't hesitate to dash inside and find two decent brooms, not really caring. Tossing one to Rose, he waited for her.

"Ready?", he asked. She nodded, her amber eyes sparkling with energy. Not bothering with counting down, he kicked off the ground, feeling Rose doing the same. As he was surrounded by the familiar feeling of the wind rushing around him, Scorpius knew he was smiling.

Looking behind him at Rose, he did a loop in the sky and ended up facing her. She laughed, freely and full of excitement. They circled each other and raced from here to there and did whatever came to mind, both feeling the most relaxed they had since arriving at Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, they were soon snapped out of the moment when they heard voices. Well, Rose distinctly heard James. Rose and Scorpius froze and looked at each other. She realized it was the Gryffindor team, including four of her cousins, making their way down for early practice.

"Crap", she whispered, finally moving. Scorpius looked at her fearfully, but when she turned and started downwards, Rose knew he was following her. She hurriedly landed just beside the shed, hidden from view. Taking Scorpius', she chucked both of the brooms inside the shed, shut the door, then grabbed him and pulled him down with her, crouching behind the shed, in the grass.

The voices got closer and he shot her that look again. Rose gave him a reassuring smile, crossing her fingers behind her back. Then they heard the door open, neither daring to breathe. Rose counted seven voices in her head. Four she knew, one was vaguely familiar, and the other two were unknown.

"Looks like someone was already here", an unknown voice said.

"I bet it was the Slytherin team, just like them to not tidy up after themselves", James spat. There were some murmers of agreement as Rose winced, eyes locked with Scorpius'. After what felt like hours, but was really just a few, very tense minutes, they were in the air, and Rose let out the breath she had been holding. Scorpius sighed and rested his head against the wood.

"Great. So now what do we do?", he murmed quietly. She looked around them, thinking.

"Uh, we could... No... Oh! I know! Give me a second... I know this... Come on, come on...", Scorpius watched her talking to herself, bemused. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers, making him jump. She turned to him with sparkling eyes. Her mouth opened slightly as she whispered something that Scorpius couldn't possibly hear.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, what had that just been about? Rose smirked at him, then casually stood up and started walking. Scorpius gaped at her. He pointed behind him then to her; her smirk remained intact. He frantically tried to communicate with her silently to no avail, and eventually gave up with a sigh and tensely followed her. The blonde anxiously glanced from the clearly defined seven figures in the air to Rose and back again. After a moment when he realized that none of the said figures seemed to notice their _very_ -to him at least- obvious presence, he frowned at his red-headed companion.

"What just happened?" He asked, keeping his voice low. He was met with a smug smirk.

"Oh, nothing. I just remembered a certain concealment charm. They can't see us, at all." Scorpius' face slowly lit up in an admiring smile.

"You are truly something extraordinary, Rose Weasley." A light pink dusted itself across her nose in acknowledgment.

"Anyone could have done it," she replied quickly, gaze averted to the ground.

"Not _anyone_. Me, perhaps-" she threw him an exasperated look, "- _kidding_. But really, I doubt anyone else in first year can even correctly pronounce _Wingardium Leviosa_ , none the less have learnt a concealment charm and be able to perform it accurately first try, _while_ under pressure." As they reached a bend in the path, Rose turned around to look at the pitch and the practising students. After a second of silence, she shrugged, turned back around and continued walking, a small smile on her face, and a definite skip in her step. Scorpius inwardly smiled and followed his friend back to the school.


End file.
